Month: March 2019

So, there’s been a bit o’ buzz over a possible reboot of Baylon 5, the TV series from the 1990s that was probably one of the best sci-fi TV series of the 20th Century. I don’t know for sure it will happen, but I’d love to see the show rebooted and especially if it stays true to the original as much as possible.

A friend of mine tossed this particular “what-if” at me as a challenge. Who would I cast in the reboot? Clearly, with a few of the original actors having passed and the other likely a little long in the tooth to reprise their roles, some new faces need to be considered.

So, here’s what I came up with. (Note: Character/New Cast Member/Original Actor/Actress)

Jeffrey Sinclair/Bryan Cranston (Michael O’Hare)

The character arc will be brief as Sinclair has a destiny to fulfill in the past and won’t be about much. So Cranston could fill this role perfectly. (Also, he played a minor role in the original series back in the 90s and it would be fun seeing him back in B5.)

John Sheridan/Josh Hartnett (Bruce Boxleitner)

I like Harnett. A lot. He was great as Ethan Chandler in Penny Dreadful and could play the warrior Captain with a heart as well as Boxleitner did.

Susan Ivanova/Kara Thrace (Claudia Christian)

Look, Christian played Susan so well, I don’t know if anyone could measure up. But Thrace would come as close as anyone else could. She changed my mind about Starbuck being a female fighter pilot in Battlestar Galactica.

Delenn/Lena Headey (Mira Furlan)

Headey just has what it takes to play the strong female leader that Delenn is.

Michael Garibaldi/Karl Urban (Jerry Doyle)

Yep, Doctor McCoy meets Judge Dredd. And it would work. FYI, Garibaldi was my favorite character next G’Kar. Speaking of…

G’Kar/Richard Armitage (Andreas Katsulas)

If they ever do a reboot, I pity the two actors that have to take on G’Kar and Londo. They have big shoes to fill and Katsulas and Peter Jurasik set a very high bar to clear. Speaking of the Ambassador/Emperor of Centauri…

Londo Mollari/Djimon Hounsou (Peter Jurasik)

I know, but hear me out. There would be a different take on Londo here, but I think Hounsou can pull this off. Go watch Gladiator and Guardians of the Galaxy again.

Dr. Franklin/Anthony Mackie (Richard Biggs)

They aren’t going to be doing a standalone Falcon movie in the MCU, but his early appearance in the Winter Soldier lends to his being a good onscreen Doctor, don’t you think?

Marcus Cole/Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Jason Carter)

Carter really sold Marcus as a character we would go to war with. His demise at the end of Season 4 was one of those “Oh hell no, not Marcus!!!!!” moments, even though the reason made perfect sense. Can Taylor-Johnson match that? I saw flashes of it in Age of Ultron.

Alfred Bester/Michael Sheen (Walter Koenig)

Think about it. Who else but Sheen could pull off the oily-slick “I’m an evil guy but I think I’m a Saint” air that Koenig brought to the role?

Lennier/Paul Dano (Bill Mumy)

Vir Cotto/John Hutcherson (Stephen Furst)

These last two characters were cast mostly because I was looking for younger actors who could pull off the subservient positions of their characters while still delivering when needed in the role.

Okay, I recast the major players. What do you think of my choices? Who would you cast instead?

One of the many places I’ve called home over the years is the Bay Area of California, namely, Half Moon Bay. Loved it there. Hated to leave but man, that cost of living was a killer on a poor scribe’s budget.

Because getting to San Francisco required driving up the 280 (Highway 1 occasionally was closed due to mudslides back then until the built that fancy new tunnel south of Pacifica) we drove past this structure almost daily:

Yeah, it’s a Flintstone’s house. And it’s kind of weird looking where it’s located, but its also kind of goofy fun too. The dinosaurs are a more recent addition, one that wasn’t there when I lived there. I wish they had been, as it would have really been something to see.

Those dinosaurs are at the center of a kerfluffle today. Seems the City of Hillsborough wants them gone. They are fining the property owner, a kindly old lady who recently purchased the unwanted property, added the statues and opened it up for local children to enjoy, for “unpermitted improvements to the property”.

Funny, I wasn’t aware that any city had the right to dictate lawn statuary. As long as they aren’t obscene (these aren’t), pose a health risk (they don’t), or otherwise impede traffic – human, car or air – (these clearly don’t) then I’m not seeing the problem here.

This crap right here is how you get to be called Nazis, City of Hillsborough, and a prime example of why I moved out of the Socialistic Republic of Kaliforniastan last year.

Be better, California. Leave an old woman alone and quit trying to nanny your citizens to death.

And then join me in e-mailing your displeasure over their actions to the Mayor, vice-Mayor and the entire Hillsborough City Council via their official city e-mail accounts. (Keep it clean. We want to make these people realize they are wrong and change course.):

Back in 2016, Blood of Invidia, was released by Tom Tinney and Morgen Batten. It went on to be a 2017 Finalist for Best Horror Novel at that year’s Dragon Awards. It fell to The Changeling by Victor LaValle.

Okay, so there were a lot of books that didn’t win. Lots more that didn’t even get nominated. So what makes this book so special?

The reason why it was written and published.

You see, Tom and Morgen are father and son. They live tens of thousands of miles apart and for a very long time, they never knew each other existed. That changed several years back. But the distance between them made seeing each other in person near to impossible. E-mails, phone calls and Skypes, aside, they wanted to meet in person.

So they decided to write a book and use the royalties to pay for their first-ever meeting. Blood of Invidia was born. When they were ready, they released it.

Many of us got behind the book as much as we could. Larry Correia sparked a massive run of sales literally by mentioning the project. I mentioned it as often as I could. As did so many others. I reviewed it and was among enough people to nominate it to get it in as a Finalist for the Dragon Awards.

The book was a success, but the goal was not yet attained. It took another year and a half after the Dragon Awards in late 2017, but today, father held his son in his arms for the very first time. You want to know one reason why we write, why some of us do whatever we can to help promote other authors anyway we can no matter how big or small our effort may be?

This is why. This meeting on this day in Australia.

Here’s the video of Tom flying out of Dallas, the plot to make his visit a surprise and the moment when father and son meet face-to-face for the very first time:

It’s that time of the year again. Nominations for the 2019 DragonCon’s Dragon Awards are open and will remain so until July. I’ve dropped my nominations off and am awaiting the e-mail with this year’s finalists so I can vote for them. Just like I’ve done the previous three years of the award’s existence.

As you regulars here know, I consider the Dragon’s to be the premier award in sci-fi/fantasy. They are open to everyone to cast a vote in. They do not have a pre-programmed bias against *wrongthink* creators (cough, Hugos, cough, Nebulas, cough) and I feel they accurately reflect the true feelings of sf/f fans everywhere.

I was fortunate enough to have been a finalist in 2017 for Best Sci-Fi Novel with Escaping Infinity and I hope to be one again in 2019 with my two eligible works: When The Gods Fell (Best Fantasy Novel) and The Timeless (Best YA/Middle Grade).

In the past I’ve waited until the finalists were announced to reveal who I nominated, and then waited until after the awards were handed out to reveal who I voted for among the finalists. This year, we’re going to shake things up a bit.

I am going to reveal my nominees here today. I hope you will look them over and give each of them a read between now and July and see if you agree they are worthy. If you do, or if you think another work deserves recognition, please follow this link to the Dragon Awards Nomination page and fill out your own form and submit it.

Here are my nominees for 2019:

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL: OCTAVIA GONE by Jack McDevitt

BEST FANTASY NOVEL: WHEN THE GODS FELL by Richard Paolinelli

BEST YOUNG ADULT/MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL: THE TIMELESS by Richard Paolinelli

BEST MILITARY SCIENCE FICTION OR FANTASY NOVEL: A Place For War by Daniel Humphreys